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How To Jailbreak Your Apple TV 2

While rumors continue to circulate about Apple building an HDTV, for now we have the $99 Apple TV set top box. You can get more features and customization on your iDevice by Jailbreaking it, and the same holds true for the Apple TV. Here’s how to do it with Seas0npass.

Note: In this example I’m jailbreaking my Apple TV (2nd Generation) with 5.0.2 firmware on a Windows 7 system. But the process is the same if you’re using a Mac. If your Apple TV is running a different firmware version, just download the appropriate Seas0nPass software, or update your Apple TV to the latest version.

To find which software your Apple TV is running, Go to Settings >> General >> About.

Connect your Apple TV to your Mac or PC with the micro USB cable. Then launch the Seas0npass software.

Click Create IPSW.

Then wait while the new Firmware is downloaded to your system. The amount of time it takes will vary depending on the speed of your Internet connection.

Next it will start to install the software.

After it’s done, you’ll see the following screen. On your Apple TV remote, hold down both the Menu and Play/Pause buttons for seven seconds. This puts your Apple TV in DFU mode.

After the Custom IPSW is created successfully, iTunes will open and your Apple TV will be restored to the new firmware.

The process takes five to ten minutes. When it’s done you’ll get the following message. Click OK and unplug your Apple TV from your computer.

Connect your Apple TV back to your HDTV and you’ll need to go through the initial set up process again.

When it boots up, you’ll see the Firecore logo for the Settings icon. This reaffirms the jailbreak was successful.

After jailbreaking your Apple TV you can add extra apps and customization to it that aren’t available like NitoTV, XBMC, PLEX and more. I’ll be covering the groovy features you can add in future articles.

Here’s an example of XBMC running on my Apple TV.

If you happen to get an error when you go through the jailbreak process the first time, go back into Seas0npass and click Create IPSW. Disconnect the micro USB cable, reconnect it, put it back into DFU mode, then it should work. Keep in mind that if you get a new update on your Apple TV, you’ll need to jailbreak it again.

You can get a lot more out of your Apple TV by jailbreaking it. What is your take? If you have a jailbroken Apple TV let us know what some of your favorite features you’ve added to it.

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About Brian Burgess

Based in MN, Brian Burgess is Editor in Chief at groovyPost. He also has contributed to other notable tech sites including InformationWeek and How-To Geek. Follow him on Twitter @mysticgeek.